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Friday 13: Knights Templar

What does Friday the 13th have to do with Masonry? It’s a long twisted connection, and I’ll take a look at this today.

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple
of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique
Solomonici), better known as the Knights Templar, was one
of the most famous of the Christian military orders. It existed for about two
centuries in the Middle Ages, created in the aftermath of the First
Crusade of 1096, to ensure the safety of the large numbers of European pilgrims
who flowed toward Jerusalem after its conquest.

The Templars were an unusual order in that they were
both monks and soldiers, making them, in effect, some of the earliest
"warrior monks" in the Western world. Members of the Order played a
key part in many battles of the Crusades, and the Order's infrastructure
innovated many financial techniques that could be considered the foundation of
modern banking. The Order grew in membership and power throughout Europe,
King Philip IV of France (Philip the Fair) moved against the Templars in an
effort to seize its wealth, causing members in France to be tortured into
confessions and burned at the stake. Under influence from King
Philip, Pope Clement V forcibly disbanded the order on Friday October
13, 1307. Many legends surround the Templars, who continue to feature in
various theories especially linked with the claim that they protected members
of a lineage known as the Sangreal (Royal Blood) that traces itself back
to Jesus of Nazareth. Not least of all because of their own rule of
secrecy, much "supposition under the guise of history" has been
written about the Templars. Despite the difficulty of separating fact from
fiction, aspects of their relations with their Islam neighbors suggests that
the period of the Crusades was not only characterized by hatred and
enmity. There is no "Islamic historiography of the Crusades" since
even though they are currently perceived as having permanently damaged
Christian-Muslim relations, at the time Muslims saw them as border skirmishes
that only inflicted pinpricks on the fringe of the Muslim world, thus the
Templars also dealt diplomatically with their opponents.

The Knights and Islam

Fighting the Muslims was central to the Order's existence,
since its purpose was to protect the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem. However,
the Order knew that this was impossible by military means alone without also
engaging in diplomacy, since the crusader states were sandwiched between rival
Muslim sultanates. On at least two occasions, they entered treaties with
Muslims: In 1172, they entered an alliance with the Assassins; in 1239,
they allied themselves with Damascus against Egypt.

The Templars enjoyed a "sustained and sympathetic
contact with Islamic and Jewish culture." They may even have
attempted to reconcile Jews, Christians, and Muslims, they argue, linking this
with their theory "if Jesus were acknowledged as a mortal prophet, as a
priest-king and legitimate ruler of the line of David, he might well become
acceptable to both Jews and Muslims." They also enjoyed the
friendship and respect of Prince Usama of Shaizar, who "liked and
respected the Templars," admired Frankish justice, but found their
medicine primitive. Usama, says Fletcher, was a frequent visitor to the
royal court in Jerusalem.

Money and the Templars:

Though individual members took vows of poverty, and their
personal possessions were limited to the essentials, the order itself received
donations of money, land and other valuables from the pious and the grateful.
The Templar organization grew very wealthy.

In addition, the military strength of the Templars made it
possible to collect, store, and transport bullion to and from Europe and the
Holy Land with a measure of safety. Kings, noblemen, and pilgrims used the
organization as a kind of bank. The concepts of safe deposit and travelers'
checks originated in these activities. pilgrims deposited their valuables with a local Templar preceptory before embarking, received a document indicating the value of their deposit, then used that document upon arrival in the Holy Land to retrieve their funds. This innovative arrangement was an early form of banking, and may have been the first formal system to support the use of cheques; it improved the safety of pilgrims by making them less attractive targets for thieves, and also contributed to the Templar coffers.

Based on this mix of donations and business dealing, the Templars established financial networks across the whole of Christendom. They acquired large tracts of land, both in Europe and the Middle East; they bought and managed farms and vineyards; they built churches and castles; they were involved in manufacturing, import and export; they had their own fleet of ships; and at one point they even owned the entire island of Cyprus. The Order of the Knights Templar arguably qualifies as the world's first multinational corporation.

The Downfall of the Templars:

In 1291, Acre, the last remaining Crusader stronghold in the
Holy Land, fell to the Muslims, and the Templars no longer had a purpose there.
Then, in 1304, rumors of irreligious practices and blasphemies committed during
secret Templar initiation rites began to circulate. Very likely false, they
nevertheless gave King Philip IV of France grounds to arrest every
Templar in France on Oct. 13, 1307. He had many tortured to make them confess
to charges of heresy and immorality. It is generally believed that Philip did
this simply to take their vast wealth, though he may also have feared their
growing power.

Philip had previously been instrumental in getting a
Frenchman elected pope, but it still took some maneuvering to convince Clement
V to order all Templars in all countries arrested. Eventually, in 1312,
Clement suppressed the order; numerous Templars were executed or imprisoned,
and the Templar property that wasn't confiscated was transferred to the Hospitallers.
In 1314 Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Templar Knights, was
burned at the stake.

The Legend continues

The Knights Templar have become surrounded by legends
concerning secrets and mysteries handed down to the select from ancient times.
Most of these legends are connected with the long occupation by the order of the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and speculation about what relics the Templars may
have found there, such as the Holy Grail or the Ark of the
Covenant. And still more stories were started by fictional embellishments upon
the Templar history, such as a treasure long hidden by the Templars. This idea
has been used in two recent Hollywood movies, The Da Vinci
Code and National Treasure. The film Indiana Jones
and the Last Crusade depicted a rather more fantastic view of the
history of the Templar.

The dissolution of the Templar order is well documented, and
some of its surviving members and properties after the destruction of the order
in 1314, were absorbed into the Knights of the Hospital of Saint John, which
continued as a minor military entity throughout the middle ages, and in 1318,
the Military Order of Christ in Portugal as the heritage of the Knights Templar
in Portugal, after their suppression of in 1312, under heavy influence from
Philip IV of France, Pope Clement V, but King Dinis of Portugal re-instituted
the Templars as the Order of Christ. However, the story of the Templars'
persecution has proved a tempting source for many organizations to use to
enhance their own dignity, history, and mystery.

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